Utah Territory

The Utah Territory was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from 9 September 1850 to 4 January 1896, encompassing the state of Utah and parts of Nevada, Colorado, and Wyoming. The territory was incorporated on the same day as California's admission to the Union and the creation of the New Mexico Territory, and the territory's creation replaced the de facto government of the Mormon state of Deseret. Mormon leader Brigham Young became the first governor of the Utah Territory, and Mormon governance of the territory would lead to polygamy being widely practiced by settlers, to the disgust of the rest of the USA. In 1861, the Nevada Territory and the Colorado Territory were created due to gold rushes, and the Wyoming Territory was formed in 1868. In 1896, Utah was admitted to the union.